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Theme Of Revelation

Decent Essays

Racist and judgemental, Ruby Turpin believes she is a holy woman, always keeping her rude thoughts to herself. Ruby believes since she is a church going white woman, she should be allowed to rise up to heaven. However, after a holy encounter with a young girl leaves her to self reflect, Ruby realizes she is not as holy as she thought she was. Revelation written by Flannery O'Connor portrays the themes racism and judgement through Ruby’s character and uses the elements of ethos, pathos, and logos to help support those themes. To begin, Ruby Turpin is a southern, church attending, white woman who lives on a farm with her husband, Claud, while raising pigs. One day, Ruby and Claud visit a doctor's office to have an ulcer he received checked …show more content…

During this banter between people, Mary Grace stares into Ruby, as if she could hear Ruby’s awful thoughts. However, unbeknownst to Ruby, Mary Grace is a holy being, despite being “ugly.” Mary Grace is there to inspire Ruby’s revelation, her name giving away her holiness to the reader. As Mary Grace stares, her hatred and intense negative feelings get stronger for Ruby. Mary Grace sees through Ruby’s fake exterior and sees her for who she truly is, nothing close to holy. This anger shows O’Connor’s varying uses of pathos. In this instance, O’Connor uses Mary Grace’s anger to touch the reader and become keen with their emotions, as any sensible person would be outraged at Ruby’s vile thoughts. Once Mary Grace has had enough of Ruby’s behavior, she slams her book down and lunges across the room, grabbing Ruby by the neck and squeezing. Mary Grace is then pulled from Ruby’s body and is placed on the ground, where she begins thrashing, her eyes rolling back and forth in her sockets. This description of Mary Grace’s eyes moving without pause can be connected to the Eye of Providence, also known as the Divine Providence, which represents God’s intervention in the world and that God is an all-knowing being. Mary Grace is …show more content…

Ruby’s revelation of all man being created equal in God’s eyes gives a valuable and vital lesson to the reader. The lesson is obvious to most, that a person should never be judged by surface value. Even if the reader is not one of religious practice, this lesson is universal and she be known to

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